Tactics
by immo
Summary: What's a squad leader to do when one of her squadmate's fallen in love with her?(yurifemmslashgoodness :D)
1. Losing Control

Tactics: Losing Control  
  
Fallout Tactics fanfiction  
  
immo - immo@hamena.org  
  
rating:PG-13  
  
Been playing Fallout Tactics. Had the urge to write this piece. Of course, you know me. I'm always up for femme-  
  
slashing something up. :D Yuri goodness, right? ;D Maybe first in a series, but ya know how I am with continuing  
  
things. I suck :P  
  
~~~  
  
"You holdin' up okay, Stevie?" Lex sat down next to the woman. Sweat cut a path down the dirt and grime of  
  
her face, and Stevie flashed Lex a wavering smile.  
  
"Hey, sexy Lexy. Holding up okay, chief. John's done me real good."  
  
Lex saw John out of the corner of her eye, leaving the room quietly. He caught her look, and nodded in  
  
acknowledgement. Her appreciation and thanks had been noted.  
  
"Good, good..." Lex's face tighted to a grimace now, and she glared at Stevie. "What the HELL were you  
  
thinking about, soldier, jumping in front of me like that?! Why did you break formation?! Were you NOT thinking at  
  
all?!"  
  
"I was thinking." Stevie's face had turned sullen and stony. "I was thinking about you."  
  
Lex couldn't remember a time where she felt so tired in her life. So frustrated, so... so utterly exhausted  
  
as she looked in those hauntingly beautiful eyes. Defiant, yes, but beautiful.  
  
It wasn't professional. The squad all knew about it. Cookie and Mother would bow their heads together,  
  
discussing this new... development, and cast Lex knowing smirks. John just tried his best to do his job, being the  
  
medic in the group, or he would change the subject nervously, and try to direct attention to his dwindling  
  
ammunition supply or the need for a new gun.  
  
There was something going on between Paladin Lord Lex, and the young Knight, Stevie.  
  
"I thought you would know better than a rank initiate," Lex made sure her voice carried out to the others,  
  
knowing the rest of her squad was eavesdropping. "This is your last warning, Stevie. The next time you disobey a  
  
direct order from me, I will have them pull your stripes. Do you understand?"  
  
Stevie just glared at her, and Lex felt her frustration boil over into anger.  
  
"I said, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!"  
  
"I understand," Stevie finally spoke. "I understand perfectly well, Lord Paladin."  
  
Lex left the tent before she really lost control of her temper, and bumped right into Cookie.  
  
"Uh... I was just... uh..." Cookie stumbled, and Lex cursed sharply and continued walking away from camp.  
  
"Where you go?" Mother's loud voice called after her retreating form.  
  
"To relieve Ice of guard duty!"  
  
Lex marched away, kicking up dust, cursing the barren wasteland she walked on. In the shade of a stunted  
  
tree, Ice watched her approach, a look of mild amusement on her face.  
  
"Shut up," Lex snarled, and sat down next to Ice, fuming.  
  
"I didn't say anything." Ice held up her hands, and now a small smile tweaked up a corner of her lips. The  
  
two sat in silence for a few minutes, before Ice shifted a bit.  
  
"I said, shut up."  
  
"Didn't say anything."  
  
"Good. Don't."  
  
"..."  
  
"..."  
  
"So... Lover's spat?"  
  
"Argh!!!" Lex slammed her fist into the ground. "We are NOT lovers! I'm not even into women for fuck's sake!  
  
Why is she doing this? I don't know! Why won't she stop?!"  
  
"Well, maybe you should just tell her you're not interested."  
  
"Excuse me?" Lex gave Ice a bewildered look, acting as if the idea was completely foreign to her.  
  
"Just tell her you're not interested. Or just kick her from the squad. You can get other recruits who are  
  
more than willing to be under you," Ice snickered. "No pun intended."  
  
"I... I can't do that." Lex let her head fall back and hit the trunk of the tree. "She's been with me since  
  
the beginning, ya know?"  
  
After her first two squad members had died under the beastlord attacks, and she was recovering from injuries  
  
at Beta base, she had been gimping along and checking out the new recruits. Most of them avoided looking her in the  
  
eye. The last mission had been a disaster. The Beastlord Emperor had had massive forces. Lex barely left with her  
  
life. If it weren't for the grateful Deathclaw Matriarch, she wouldn't have made it back to camp alive.  
  
She needed another squad, but she didn't want to pick someone who didn't want to be there. That only set you  
  
up to be deserted. Better no fighters, than unwilling ones.  
  
'But none of them want to be commanded by a commander who's failed her squad...' Lex had bitterly thought.  
  
And that's when she saw her. The tales of her squad's fate had gone through the base, yet this girl looked her in  
  
the eye. Maybe she had a deathwish, maybe she was crazy. She had seen her, walked away from the rest of the recruits  
  
to smile at her.  
  
"Paladin Lex?"  
  
"Yes?" Lex noticed how brilliantly her eyes shone, the determination in her stance.  
  
"I want to be part of your squad."  
  
Lex had said she would consider it, then went around to the officer in charge of the recruits to ask about  
  
Stevie.  
  
"There are others better than her."  
  
Lex had immediately picked her. And she had also recruited Ice, who was sitting in the darkness of the  
  
bunker, looking at Lex curiously.  
  
"And I'm not sure that you're not interested in girls."  
  
"W-w-what?!" Lex sputtered. "What the hell makes you think that?"  
  
"Because..." Ice lifted her sniper rifle to her shoulder, and aimed at a small rabbit that had come out of  
  
its hole. "You know, the women in this group far outnumber the men. You only recruit women, and you don't even  
  
glance at the guys."  
  
"Howabout I drop you from my squad and get one of those bastards? Would that make you happier?" Lex snapped.  
  
"Don't get angry at me cuz you didn't get a little kissy kissy from Stevie, sexy Lexy." Ice teased. "I wish  
  
I had women jumping in front of flying bullets for me, you lucky dog."  
  
"Get back to camp, before I haul your ass down for a beating."  
  
"Oh, I'm sure you'd like to," Ice purred. "But I think you're a little too sweet for kinks and whips,  
  
babygirl."  
  
"Go cook dinner."  
  
"Right away, sweetness." Ice stood up, laughing. The loner of the group, Lex was afraid that Ice wouldn't  
  
get along well with anyone. But Ice got along just fine with everyone after they all got over their awkwardness and  
  
hostilities towards each other.  
  
Stevie had been very displeased when Cookie was recruited into the group, but got over her prejudices in a  
  
hurry when Cookie had rescued her from another mutant when they were ambushed one night. Cookie later confided to  
  
Lex that she had hoped that time that the grenade she threw had hit Stevie too, but was glad now that it didn't. The  
  
two got along tremendously well.  
  
Mother was another story. Lex had serious misgivings of letting any deathclaws into the squad after one of  
  
her last squad mates had been slaughtered and ripped apart by one. But she had to set an example, since she was the  
  
one who was responsible for the deathclaws joining. For the first month or so, Lex had slept with one eye open. She  
  
had slowly gotten over her fear of the deathclaw, and felt sorry for it when she realized that Mother hardly slept  
  
at all. She was so nervous around the humans. Now Mother considered her squad her pack, albeit, an unorthodox one.  
  
Her eyes on the horizon, Lex contemplated what the future might hold for her, her thoughts, foremost, on  
  
Stevie.  
  
~~~  
  
They hadn't talked for two days, Lex passed commands down the line instead of directly talking to Stevie.  
  
Stevie had sunken into silence and would obey orders, but refuse to speak to or even look Lex in the eye. That was  
  
until they happened across a couple of raiders. They were easily gotten rid of, but Stevie had managed to get hit by  
  
a festering spear.  
  
"I managed to get most of the poison out, and I thought she'd be okay. But now... she's running a high  
  
fever." Cookie knelt down next to Stevie, tenderly wiping the girl's face with lukewarm water, while John told Lex  
  
the bad news. "These damned raiders... they don't clean their weapons. I don't have the equipment here to help her,  
  
the base doctors are equipped for this. But we have to get her there soon."  
  
Lex nodded grimly. She had been told the news as soon as she got back to camp after heading out with Mother  
  
to clear the area of any other possible raider threats.  
  
"This is how you get back at me, hm?" Lex whispered. She shook her head, then placed a hand on Cookie's  
  
shoulder. "We're moving out. Lets go pack up."  
  
"Stevie okay?" Mother rumbled, her face furrowed in a frown. "Stevie's blood smell bad."  
  
"She'll be okay." Lex tried to reassure the deathclaw. "She'll get better soon."  
  
"Deathclaw blood, if smell like that, very bad." Mother looked at Stevie solemnly, as if it was the last  
  
time she would see her. Then the deathclaw turned around and left silently. That didn't sit too well with Lex.  
  
"Lets hurry up, people!" Lex knelt down, and watched as Stevie took shallow, gasping breaths.  
  
"She's right. Stevie might not last too long. I could bleed her a bit..." John shrugged helplessly. "That  
  
might take some of the poison out of her and lessen her fever... but it could also weaken her too much. She won't  
  
have a fighting chance."  
  
"Stevie, hang on, okay?" Lex felt Stevie's forehead. The young woman was burning up. "We'll get you back to  
  
base. If you die of a little raider attack, I'm gonna be so pissed at you. When we were going up against those  
  
Reavers, I would accept it if you died then, you ass. Not something stupid like this."  
  
Stevie's hand suddenly shot out and grabbed Lex's arm.  
  
"Don't... kick me... from your squad." Stevie's eyes were feverish. "Please..."  
  
"No, Stevie, never." Lex squeezed the girl's hand.  
  
"Stay with me?"  
  
"I'll go help Ice and the others clean up," John got up, and left the two alone.  
  
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you planned this whole thing." Lex accused.  
  
"Can't yell at me... if I'm.. dying, right?" Stevie laughed weakly. "Give me a kiss?"  
  
"It won't make you all better." Lex's heart clenched to see her friend like this. "Despite the headaches  
  
that Stevie gives her, Lex would never wish Stevie out of her life.  
  
~~~  
  
"I hear your men are walking all over you." General Dekker spoke. Lex had been heading to the infirmary to  
  
check on Stevie. "Or rather, one woman."  
  
"And who told you this?" Lex couldn't imagine Mother, Cookie, Ice or John spreading her business.  
  
"People see you hardly leave the infirmary and sit by one of your Knight's side, day and night." Dekker  
  
replied. "You know how the rumour mill is around here."  
  
"And you listen to them, Dekker?"  
  
"Don't consort with people within your squad, Lex." The General fell in step beside Lex. "Its not good. I've  
  
never talked to you about this, soldier, because I thought you would know better."  
  
"General, please believe me when I say there is nothing between anyone in my squad." Lex could feel her face  
  
heating up. "I have never had any relations with my squadmates, and I am not going to start now."  
  
"That's what I gather. I know you're very responsible." The man stopped, Lex was compelled to, too. "You've  
  
risen quickly within the Brotherhood, Lex, and I'd hate for something like this to cloud your judgement."  
  
Lex didn't know why, but she could feel herself getting angrier and angrier as the general continued  
  
lecturing her, as if she was still just a squire.  
  
"Excuse me, General Dekker, but you speak of one of mine as if they were something that would hinder me,  
  
to-to cloud my judgement." Lex almost snarled. "She is a friend. A dear one, but just a friend. She's loyal, and she  
  
went through a lot with me. She has only helped me along the way. Granted, she might harbor a little crush on me,  
  
but there's no harm in that, right?"  
  
"And it is EXACTLY your outlook on this that does you no good, soldier!" The General snapped right back.  
  
"Your squad is your family, they watch your back as you watch theirs and your responsibility is to make sure that  
  
they get out of a mission alive! But you must have a barrier! Nip those feelings she has for you in the bud! I'm  
  
saying this, because I would not want you hurt if she ends up in a casket!"  
  
That was the wrong thing to say. Lex clenched her fists together, her nails digging into the palm of her  
  
hands until she knew that blood was welling up from the small crescent-shaped cuts. That was why romances in your  
  
own squad was discouraged. It not only promoted favoritism within the squad, but it also made people act rashly in  
  
the line of fire.   
  
"You're all assuming that I'm interested in her. But no, I'm not. She's a good squadmate. But that's all  
  
she is."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Goddamn I'm sure!" Lex hissed. "What do you want me to do?"  
  
"Stevie has gotten very good reports." Dekker started, and all the internal alarms in Lex went off. "She's  
  
quick, silent, and she has the makings of a good leader."  
  
"You're pulling her from my squad?"  
  
"For your own good, soldier. General Barnaky saw great potential in you." Dekker placed a hand on Lex's  
  
shoulder. "He would want me to look out for you."  
  
It was high honour indeed to be looked upon with favour by Barnaky. He was old-fashioned and had old-  
  
fashioned ideas. Like how women should be seen and not heard. And how the mutants, deathclaws, ghouls, just anyone  
  
who wasn't fully 'human' should be six feet under. To have Barnaky praise her, it was high praise, indeed.  
  
"There are other new recruits to break in, and veterans who are clambering to join you." Dekker paused.  
  
"Do you care about her, paladin?"  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"As a friend would care for a friend."  
  
Lex answered truthfully. "Very much, sir."  
  
"And to your knowledge, she loves you?"  
  
"Sir," Hesitantly, Lex started speaking. "During the Newton mission, she saved my life, risking her own."  
  
"Exactly my point. She'll die because of you, Lex." Dekker pursed his lips together. "You know the right  
  
course of action."  
  
Lex felt torn. She had told Stevie that she would never be outed from the squad. But it was for Stevie's own  
  
good. Another stunt like that...  
  
"Just sign her out with the Recruits Master. I'll swing by her cot now and tell her the news. If it makes  
  
you feel better, you have no choice whether she goes or not. I'm pulling rank."  
  
"Yessir. I'll report to the Recruits Master." Lex watched as Dekker headed to the infirmary, and felt her  
  
legs move to catch up with him. "General Dekker!"  
  
"Lex?" Dekker paused.  
  
"Give me a moment with her, please?"  
  
Dekker frowned, but then shrugged. "Of course. I have some things to discuss with Scribe Aaron, anyways.  
  
I will go and talk to Stevie later. Oh, and report to me after you visit the Recruits Master. I have another mission  
  
for you."  
  
Lex saluted Dekker, then hurried to the infirmary.  
  
"Paladin Lord Lexandria." One of the doctor's assistants smiled at her. "You're here again. Knight Stevie is  
  
awake, and she's been asking for you for quite a while now."  
  
"Has she?" A smile came unbidden onto Lex's lips. Excusing herself, she walked past other beds, and finally  
  
reached Stevie's bed. Lex scratched softly on the screen.  
  
"Are you decent?"  
  
"Lex?" There was sounds of movement on the other side of the dividing screen. "Come in."  
  
The screen parted with a swish, and Lex closed it firmly behind her before seating herself on the stool next  
  
to Stevie's bed. The knight had pushed herself up to a sitting position to better greet her guest.  
  
"How's your wound healing?"  
  
"Great." Stevie pulled down the sleeve of her gown to show Lex her shoulder, neatly stitched. "Its coming  
  
along quite nicely."  
  
"That's great."  
  
There was a long awkward silence, where the two avoided looking in each other's eyes.  
  
"Hey, Stevie. Can I ask you something?"  
  
"Anything."  
  
Lex leaned forward, resting her elbows on the edge of Stevie's bed. "Why did you want to be part of my  
  
squad? I mean, right after the whole mess with the Beastmaster, nobody would touch me with a ten-foot pole. Why did  
  
you want to join me?"  
  
Stevie leaned back into her pillow, her brows furrowed in concentration.  
  
"Well... I wanted to make something of you."  
  
"What?" Lex blinked.  
  
"I wanted to make you happy." Stevie grinned. "Its... just... when I first saw you, you looked miserable.  
  
I've seen you before the Beastmaster incident, you know? You were really close with them, weren't you?"  
  
Lex closed her eyes, and willed that tightening in her chest to loosen. Even after what had seemed like  
  
forever, she still missed her friends. And wished to god, they were still here. Just to see them, bloody and  
  
mangled, still fighting even when they were overwhelmed... if Stitch hadn't opened the Matriarch's cage, if he  
  
hadn't made it at that moment... if Farsight hadn't ran to her aid when she went down...  
  
A cool hand squeezing her forearm lightly brought her back to the present.  
  
"They were family." Lex whispered hoarsely. "They were my closest friends. We started out as recruits  
  
together..."  
  
"You had no family when they died." Stevie nodded. "The Brotherhood is supposed to be family. And here,  
  
everyone else was avoiding you when you were hurting. It wasn't right."  
  
Lex searched Stevie's face, but found nothing but sincerity.  
  
"Want to ask me why I stay with you now?"  
  
Lex had to smile at the impish look on Stevie's face.  
  
"Sure, why not."  
  
Stevie bit her lower lip nervously, then motioned for Lex to come closer. Lex tilted her head to the side,  
  
but leaned closer, until Stevie's mouth was pressed close to her ear.  
  
"I'm only going to say this once, okey?" Her voice qauvered nervously. "I like the things you do. I like the  
  
way you smile, the way you laugh, the way you smell. I like how you treat everyone fairly and care about them so  
  
deeply. I like how your hands feel, and how warm you are. I like how you make me feel, Lex. I like everything about  
  
you. I love you. And I even like the part of you that resists me, because its all you."  
  
Stevie had a hand, tenderly pressed against Lex's forehead, fingers slowly trailing through Lex's red hair.  
  
"Stevie?"  
  
"I'm sorry, Lex."  
  
And then Stevie kissed her. Softly, so softly. Just barely brushed against her lips. Then again, and again.  
  
The tip of her tongue, entering Lex's mouth, and Lex met it with her own.  
  
Even injured, Stevie was still strong, and she pulled Lex on top of her, as the kiss deepened.  
  
"I've wanted this so long, Lex, you don't understand..."  
  
Lex just held her closer, and squeezed her eyes shut. One last kiss, and she could feel her heart completely  
  
shatter at how honestly Stevie returned that kiss.  
  
"Stevie?" Lex rested her forehead against the exposed skin of Stevie's neckline. Tentatively, she kissed  
  
the bared skin, feeling how hot Stevie was.  
  
"Stevie, I'm sorry--"  
  
"Don't say a thing, Lex." Stevie turned her head to the side. "Please."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"You have nothing to be sorry for." Stevie's eyes shimmered with unshed tears, and she laughed loudly,  
  
trying to make light of the situation. Lex floundered helplessly, not knowing what to do. Her friend was hurting, it  
  
was apparent, and it was because of her. She didn't know how to make it better. SHe opened her mouth again, to say  
  
something, anything, but fell silent when Stevie motioned to her to be quiet.  
  
"Lex, don't. You don't need to say anything." Stevie smiled. "I love you. I love you so much, and it hurts  
  
me to no end. And since I'm part of your squad, I have all the time in the world to convince you that you love me  
  
too. You know, life and death situations, nights under the stars..."  
  
Lex choked on her laughter, and the two women found themselves holding each other. Parting again, Lex held  
  
onto Stevie's hands tightly, and raised them to her lips. She kissed the palm of Stevie's hands, feeling incredibly  
  
guilty.  
  
"I'm going to go now, okay? You get some rest."  
  
"Okay."  
  
The Paladin Lord helped her knight under the covers, then turned off the bedside lamp. The outburst must  
  
have taken a lot out of Stevie, because she fell asleep right away. In the darkness, Lex watched the muted  
  
silhouette of her friend. Her breathing drowned out by the steady beeping of the heart monitor machine next to her  
  
bed.  
  
"I'm sorry, Stevie." 


	2. Withdrawal Effects

Tactics: Withdrawal Effect  
  
Fallout Tactics fanfiction  
  
immo - immo@hamena.org  
  
rating:PG-13  
  
Femmeslash/yuri/goodness. :D Don't read if you not into that shit. Here's the second in the series... I think this  
  
is the first time I've actually gotten around to writing a follow up to something! O.O woooooah. Kudos to me! Last  
  
time, fanfiction.net screwed away with my formatting so my style looks like crap. I'm gonna try to remedy that...  
  
bear with me folks.  
  
~~~  
  
Lex lay on the roof, looking up at the stars. Usually, Stevie would be right beside her, talking on and on.  
  
But she wasn't here now. When she was signing Stevie out, recruits milling about had been clamboring for her  
  
attention, wanted to be picked by her. But she avoided them all. Granted, now she was short one of a full squad, but  
  
that spot on her team could only be filled by Stevie. And so she left in the hummer, the next mission in a holo-disk  
  
and her team's morale awfully low.  
  
"Where Stevie?" Mother had demanded when they were leaving the base.  
  
John tried to explain the situation to Mother, but the deathclaw refused any explanation. When Lex finally  
  
lost her patience and snapped at the deathclaw, the whole car fell into total silence. Mother stuck her head out the  
  
window and purposedly let her drool dribble down the side of the car, scowling at Lex sometimes, or growling  
  
mutinously. Cookie stuck her head out the other side of the window and sniped anything that moved. But she fell into  
  
sullen silence too when Lex yelled at her for wasting bullets. John sat in the front passenger seat, fidgeting  
  
uncomfortably. Lex's temper was legendary. When her old squad was with her, she had beat down a knight for making  
  
unwelcome advances towards her. And she had only been a senior initiate then. Ice sat in the middle of Mother and  
  
Cookie, seemingly oblivious to the tension in the air.  
  
They had finally set camp, and everyone scooted off to do something, to avoid Lex. Mother went to scout out  
  
the area, Cookie cooked while John helped, and Ice went on guard duty.  
  
Her ears caught the sound of shuffling steps, and her hand tightened on her M-16 before she relaxed,  
  
recognizing Mother's steps.  
  
"Can't sleep?" Mother's eyes glowed iredescent green, her tail swinging from side to side.  
  
"No." Lex's eyes searched out the north star, and finding it, picked out the big dipper and the little  
  
dipper.  
  
"Where did you go?"  
  
"Dinner." The deathclaw held up a large lizard. It was gored slightly, but there was still enough pieces  
  
left to identify it somewhat. Laying it at Lex's feet, Mother waited patiently. Lex sat up, and touched the lizard.  
  
"Thank you." Lex had been grilled in deathclaw etiquette by the Elders when the Matriarch had made it clear  
  
that some of her brood wanted to join the Brotherhood. This was one of the things they learned. Pack members only  
  
ate if the leader gave them permission to. And a portion of what they brought down had to be given to the leader as  
  
a tribute.  
  
"I'm okay, you can have it."  
  
Mother nodded, and took the lizard, ripping into it with hunger. It was awesome, and horrifying to watch the  
  
deathclaw gulp down that lizard.  
  
"Lex... I have... question?" Mother crouched down, tilting her head to the side.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"You miss Stevie?"  
  
Before she could stop herself, Lex answered. "Yes."  
  
"Stevie, I miss also." Mother struggled with her words. "Mother was bad before... ask nicely now? Stevie  
  
come back now?"  
  
Lex sighed and rubbed her eyes wearily. "No, I can't do that, Mother. She's... the general has taken her  
  
away. He wants her to start a new team."  
  
Mother's furrowed brows told Lex that the creature was still confused. She tried again.  
  
"I cannot, because the general wants Stevie to start a new pack."  
  
"She cannot." Mother set her jaw stubbornly. "She cannot without mate. She choose you. She will not start  
  
pack without you. Not deathclaw ways--"  
  
"She's not a deathclaw!" Lex hissed. "Mother, you have to learn that. People are different! Its not so black  
  
and white as what you say it is!"  
  
Mother fell silent, contemplating the words of her leader. "Not deathclaw ways?"  
  
There was a dry panting, that seemed to be what a deathclaw passed as laughter. "Not different from  
  
deathclaws? The same. Very same. You see soon."  
  
The deathclaw lumbered over to the fire, and curled up beside it. In a little while, Mother's rumbling  
  
breath told Lex that the creature had fallen asleep.  
  
~~~  
  
The mission had gone without a hitch. It was as if Stevie's presence made no difference at all. John had  
  
stayed by Cookie while she calmly cut down any enemies in her way. Mother was on scouting duty, removing obstacles  
  
where she can, and going back to the core group for backup when there was too much to handle. Lex handled the  
  
situation, moving people where they were needed, being everything a leader was supposed to be. Only thing was that  
  
John caught a bullet in his hip, but from every mission, it was expected.The wound was easily patched up and a week  
  
or so's resting at the base would soon have John back up to speed.  
  
And in the aftermath, when Lex sat on the hood of her hummer and helped Ice clean her sniper rifle, she  
  
thought of Stevie's usefulness in the squad.  
  
'She didn't have any set job for her. Of course, the more guns in the team the better, safety in numbers...  
  
but we handled ourselves pretty well, even with one person short of a full team.'  
  
"Pass me the scope, Lex?"  
  
Lex passed her the scope, and continued thinking.  
  
'She would've done better, heading her own team, anyways. She's replaceable... but I wonder how she is right  
  
now...'  
  
"Lex, the barrel."  
  
"Hm?" She shook herself out of her thoughts. "Oh. Here."  
  
Ice made a face when Lex passed her the magazine for the rifle, while Lex just sunk deeper into her  
  
thoughts.  
  
"I said the barrel, not the magazine."  
  
"Hm? You said something, Stevie?" Lex looked up again.  
  
"FORGET IT!" Ice threw her hands up. "You know what, just forget it!"  
  
"What... what did I do?"  
  
"You are in your own little world, I don't even know how you got out of that last gunfight alive without  
  
Stevie around to pull your ass outta the line of fire," Ice raved. "You keep on radioing for Stevie when you radio  
  
me! And just now you called me Stevie--"  
  
"Ice--" Lex winced.  
  
"If you miss her that much, god, why don't you just go get her!" Ice was on a roll. "I swear to god you're  
  
so fucking in love with her. And Mother just keeps asking me every chance she gets, 'is Stevie coming back?', 'is  
  
Stevie coming back?'!! Fucking Christ, its like a broken record!"  
  
"Ice!" Cookie had come up from behind, and now lifted the girl up with a hug from behind. "Calm down!"  
  
"Put me down! I'm gonna fucking kill them! They're driving me crazy!" Ice wriggled in Cookie's grip, but was  
  
unsuccessful.  
  
"Let her go, Cookie." John came out of nowhere, a frown on his face. When Ice was let down on the ground,  
  
she stomped off, away from camp.  
  
"She needs some time alone." John explained. He turned to Lex now, and he looked every bit the disapproving  
  
father. "And YOU need to seriously rethink your decision of kicking Stevie from the squad. Everyone misses her. But  
  
I think you miss her the most."  
  
"He's right," Cookie agreed.  
  
"Shit, this is like intervention or something?" Lex suddenly felt so angry. She felt angry at her squad for  
  
going against her, felt angry at Stevie for being the cause of this, Dekker for offering a way out. Most of all,  
  
angry at herself for going the easy way out.  
  
"I'm going for a walk." Lex huffed. She went and got herself a bottle of hard liquor, before heading out  
  
into the wastelands.  
  
"Blasted squad..." Mummbling to herself, Lex popped the top, and took a swig. A couple of swigs later, she  
  
was done in. Paladin Lord Lex was notorious for not being able to take her alcohol.  
  
When night fell, and Lex was still not back at camp, Ice and Mother went out in search of their leader.  
  
"Found her, over." Ice radioed back to John and Cookie, who were guarding the camp. Lex had camped out under  
  
a tree, and was currently talking to the knothole in said tree.  
  
"And let me tell yoouuuu somethin'..." Lex burped, and covered her mouth. "Scuse me... but... yeah... what  
  
was I saying?"  
  
"Its really kinda funny, but sad at the same time." Ice tried to hide the smile on her face, but couldn't  
  
help it and doubled over, laughing.  
  
"I miss youuuu, Stevie." Lex had the saddest look on her face. Red hair had escaped the neat ponytail Lex  
  
usually put her hair in, giving her a dishevelled look, adding to how hilarious she looked.  
  
"Oh, man. We gotta record this. Come on, Lex, give me your Pipboy."  
  
"Hairyago." Lex handed it over willingly. "Ya-ya want my shirt too?"  
  
"Thank god for technology." Stevie activated the camera on the pipboy. "Thank god that scribe insisted we  
  
install this camera add-on to her Pipboy."  
  
Mother sat down, grinning, as Ice recorded Lex, fumbling to strip herself.  
  
"She's soooo going to kill us tomorrow."  
  
"Kill you." Mother said proudly. "I do nothing. Hope not kill me."  
  
"Look, I got boobies." Lex looked down at her chest, as if this was the first time she realized she had  
  
breasts. She bounced on her ass a bit, then giggled. "Jiggly."  
  
Mother let out a wheezing laugh. "Dead me, soooo worth it."  
  
"Oh. My. Lord." Ice quavered in helpless laughter.  
  
"T-Thas Paladon LOOORD Lex to y-you shouldier!" Lex put her hands on her hip. She lost her balance, and fell  
  
over onto her back, where she lay giggling.  
  
"Don't show Dekkerrrr." Mother rumbled. "Get Lex in trouble."  
  
"Course not!" Ice smiled. "But lets have a little fun! Lex?"  
  
"Yuppers."  
  
"Wanna do a little dance for the camera?"  
  
Lex struggled to her feet. "Strip dance?"  
  
"This just gets better and better." Ice turned the camera onto herself. "Senior Knight Ice here, and I would  
  
like to say I in no way regret recording Sexy Lexy, supahstar Paladin Lord Stripper. Let the show begin!"  
  
"Gotta have some music!" Lex protested, but started shuffling around in a horribly unsexy drunken dance. To  
  
give her a bit of credit, she had a bit of rythym. But to whatever music she was dancing to, nobody knew.  
  
~~~  
  
"Oooooooh GAWD.." Lex woke up, feeling the sunlight pierce through her eyelids, into her pain. She felt  
  
totally sick, and the sudden nausea didn't help either.  
  
"Stick her out the window, stick her out the window--!"  
  
The warning was just in time, as Cookie almost threw Lex out the window, and John kept a steady grip on Lex  
  
as she yakked out of the car.  
  
"Good morning, you sexy thang, you. Sleep well, princess?" The sickly sweet tone in Ice's voice made Lex  
  
panic a bit. And suddenly, it all hit her. The ridiculous dance she did last night... dancing nude under the full  
  
moon...  
  
"So I hear you bared your tribal ass for all to see, Lex." Cookie casually said, as if it was a normal thing  
  
to bring up, like commenting on the weather.  
  
"Heard you had a tattoo." The usually uptight John put in.  
  
"Marked at birth, more like." Mother wheezed.  
  
"Fuck." Lex suddenly remembered her spectators. "You assholes! You recorded it, didn't you?!"  
  
Everyone laughed, which confirmed her worse fears: they HAD recorded it. Last night wasn't just some  
  
horrible, horrible nightmare.  
  
"I'm gonna be sick." She hung out of the car window, and emptied her stomach some more.  
  
"Here," John handed her a canteen of water, that was sweetened with something. She took two big gulps, and  
  
puked even more.  
  
"It helps you get the alcohol out of your system." John explained.  
  
"Fuck... you guys..."  
  
"We love you too!" Ice called back.  
  
"Sexy Lexy the Paladin Lord Stripper," Mother's panting laughter was joined by the rest of the squad's.  
  
"We're heading back to base, Lex." John informed. "Meanwhile, you just keep drinking those liquids. Don't  
  
want you to get dehydrated."  
  
"I was always nice to you, John. " Lex looked at John with pleading eyes. "Can I get my Pipboy back?"  
  
"Sure." John gave it to her promptly. "I already erased the video."  
  
"Not before putting the footage on a holodisc." Cookie guffawed. "Hey, Lex: 'Got me lookin' so crazy right  
  
now, your love, you got me looking so crazy right now'!"  
  
cookie swung her arms around wildly, and even though she hit a couple of the people in the car, everyone  
  
laughed at the impresson Cookie did of a part of Lex's drunken dance.  
  
"I hate all of you." Lex sat back in the seat. She had a pounding headache, but it was fast fading, thanks  
  
to John's stash of medicine. But that only let her mind feel how clearly mortified she was.  
  
Oh yes. Life was a bitch. And it was biting Lex's ass at the moment.  
  
The rowdy atmosphere soon died down. It would be a day or so before they reached camp, and this was with  
  
non-stop driving. Everyone settled in for a nap, and after a while, only Ice and Lex was awake.  
  
"So are you going to talk to her?"  
  
Lex had been dozing off, but woke up at Ice's words.  
  
"I... don't know." Lex shrugged. It had been two weeks or so since they left the base. Two weeks and...three  
  
days, counting today, of not seeing Stevie.  
  
"You really should talk to her." Ice glanced back at Lex. "Its really not good. You're missing her a lot, I  
  
can tell. And I bet you she's missing you too."  
  
"But what she wants from me, I... I just can't give her!" Lex blew out her breath in frustration.  
  
There was a brief silence, then Ice spoke again. "Well... if you really feel that way, no-one can force you  
  
to like her like that. But you know, I think you two would make a good couple--"  
  
"Ice--"  
  
"No, seriously!" Ice forged on. "Why don't you stop being so stubborn and try it out? I mean, it won't kill  
  
you, right? Just tell her its a trial period for you."  
  
"Thats... I dunno... it doesn't sound right. Like I'm just... using her." Lex glared at Ice, who was looking  
  
at her from the rearview mirror. "You know, for the loner of the group, you sure do talk a lot to me."  
  
"You do that to people, Lex." Ice gave Lex a small half-smile. "You bring them out. People just... like you  
  
because you're so nice. And I kind of envy stevie. She just let herself go and loves you and isn't afraid of how  
  
humiliated she gets, how much rejection she gets from you. I sometimes wish I could have done what she did."  
  
Again, there was silence.  
  
Lex cleared her throat nervously. "Are you saying...?"  
  
"Yeah, it was a small crush, though." Lex could clearly see the blush flower on Ice's pale face. "I just...  
  
you know what, its over. Just forget it. Go to sleep."  
  
Lex, not wanting to really deal with the issue, fell silent, but stayed awake on until the sun set. 


	3. Confrontations

Tactics: Confrontations  
  
Fallout Tactics fanfiction  
  
immo - immo@hamena.org  
  
rating:PG-13  
  
Usual warning, people: Femmeslash/yuri/goodness. That means girl on girl action. I can hear all you guys out there  
  
going "HOOOO-YEAAAAH!" And the girls going: "...(quietly)weloveyouwritemore!"  
  
Reviews keep me going, as you can see by this new chapter of Tactics.  
  
So review on! And I'll try to keep writing. Who can find the easter egg I've hidden in here?  
  
~~~  
  
"So when do we get the big guns?"  
  
Some of the initiates were more... eager than others.  
  
"When I see you've got sufficient skills in the melee weapons, you'll move onto something bigger," Lex  
  
frowned at the initiate. "And not one second before I say so."  
  
"I've got sufficient skill!" The boy protested. And he was a boy. But he was getting annoying.  
  
"You're a city rat, aren't you?" Lex's eyes narrowed, when she saw his cheeks puff up at the insult. "Think  
  
you know a few tricks with your knife, you think you know everything? Nono," Lex raised a hand to stop the boy.  
  
"Don't even open your mouth. Prove it to me."  
  
There was always one in every group who thought they should've been a knight as soon as they joined. She  
  
didn't just become a general to have some snarky kid question her. Usually, she would just ignore the young ones--  
  
the ones who didn't get along and kept on resisting the position they were put in were soon not with them anymore.  
  
Your team was life. Your squad watched your back. You go off alone, try to play hero, well... you just don't last  
  
too long.  
  
And anyways, she was worried about Stevie. There had been one report from her, saying she was heading back  
  
to camp, and she should've been in by now...  
  
"Ready, initiate?"  
  
The boy was showing off, tossing the knife up and down with practised ease, a smirk on his face. She bared  
  
her teeth in a savage grin, then charged forward as soon as the knife left his hand, bowling him over completely.  
  
His knife clattered to the ground, and her knife was at his throat.  
  
"You want to try this again? Two outta three?" Lex back off again, and waited for him to pick up his knife.  
  
The rest of the initiates she had been training watched quietly, as other groups practised nearby.  
  
This time, that cock-sure smile was gone, and he regarded her warily. To his credit, she didn't let her  
  
guard down, either. She would not let even the slim chance of the boy beating her appear.  
  
He suddenly lunged forward, and Lex rolled out of the way, and scrambled to her feet again as he barrelled  
  
forward. Her right arm swept down and blocked his second attack, and followed that up with a left hook that dropped  
  
him like a sack of meal.  
  
"You need melee skills, because one day, you will find yourself with just a knife, or a spear, or even just  
  
a stick. This makes you a well-rounded person. Because, hell, anyone can learn to fire a weapon!" Lex looked round  
  
at all the faces watching her. Good. She had their attention.  
  
"So you dropped a newbie. You must be very proud of yourself, General Lexandria."  
  
Lex turned around, and couldn't help but freeze at the sight of Stevie. The only coherent thought in her  
  
head right now, was how Stevie's hair had grown longer...  
  
"Well?" Stevie had stepped through the ring of initiates. And behind them, Lex was dimly aware of knights,  
  
squires, medics, scribes, an assortment of personnel watching the exchange.  
  
"Y-your pardon?"  
  
Stevie smirked, and placed a hand on her hip. "You and me, General. One on one. Unarmed fight. What do you  
  
say?"  
  
"I don't think so..." Lex noted the new crest on Stevie's fatigue jacket. "...Knight Commander."  
  
"Are you afraid to fight someone who can beat you, General?"  
  
A hush fell through the group. Lex had to consciously stop her teeth from grinding against one another.  
  
"I don't want to fight you."  
  
"Are you afraid, General. If you say you are, hey, no problem." Stevie's eyes reflected the same fury that  
  
was in Lex's eyes at the moment. "All you need to answer, is yes... or no."  
  
Lex walked forward slowly, until she was bare centimetres from Stevie, could smell the stink of the  
  
wastelands on the Knight Commander.  
  
"No."  
  
"Good."  
  
Her punch was unexpected, and it made Lex stagger to the side. She had no time to gather herself, as Stevie  
  
launched in with a barrage of attacks. After the third successful punch, Lex hit the ground hard, and lay there,  
  
waiting for Stevie to be within reach.  
  
She could feel the tremors of her footsteps...  
  
She tensed up, and judged that Stevie was close enough, swept Stevie's feet out from under her. The cheer  
  
from the crowds was a dull roar in her ear, and Lex barely noticed. All she saw was Stevie.  
  
"Nice, General."  
  
"You do good, too."  
  
"I had a really good squad leader, just recently. Taught me a lot." Stevie did a roundhouse kick to Lex's  
  
head, and Lex caught it, shoved it away. Backed off some more.  
  
"Really, taught you a lot, didn't they?" Lex played Stevie's game. She launched a series of sharp kicks,  
  
each blocked by one of Stevie's. Lex switched to a couple of punches, which Stevie blocked again. Lulling Stevie  
  
into a false sense of security, getting her to react to the punches, going defensive... and getting caught  
  
completely by surprise as Lex kicked her in the side, another punch to stun the other woman, than tackled her to the  
  
ground.  
  
They struggled for a while, in the dirt and dust. Stevie got the upperhand, after a while, and twisted so  
  
she was sitting on Lex. Using both fists, she unleashed her rage, and just pummelled Lex's face.  
  
Lex was hurting, to say the least. But through the punches, she could see dirty tears smeared across  
  
Stevie's face.  
  
Lex managed to catch one flailing hand, then another. Wrapping her leg around one of Stevie's, she used her  
  
hold to roll them over, and held Stevie down. She screamed in frustration, trying to buck Lex off of her, but the  
  
general had a lot of experience over the Knight Commander.  
  
They were both breathing heavily, Stevie's arms pinned above her head, faces inches apart again. Stevie  
  
strained against Lex, but all her energy had left her. She lay there, Lex's sweat dripping down onto her. And just  
  
to provoke the other woman, Stevie darted her tongue out and licked away the salty liquid that had dropped to her  
  
lips.  
  
"Is this what you want, Stevie?" Lex hissed, enraged at her display. "This is what you want?!"  
  
Lex let go of Stevie's hand, and drew back to punch her. But the hit never landed, it missed its mark and  
  
landed right beside Stevie's head instead.  
  
"You're dead." Lex said loudly, for the benefit of the crowd. "I win."  
  
The mob erupted into cheers.  
  
Lex looked down at Stevie, feeling completely helpless, not know what to feel...  
  
"So are you going to stay on top of me all day?" Stevie moved, just a bit, to grind her pelvis up against  
  
Lex's. "Because I don't mind."  
  
The indecisiveness that Lex had been feeling faded.  
  
"Fucking bitch!" Lex snarled. She got up, spat out bloody saliva, and stalked away, through the crowd.  
  
~~~  
  
"Hey."  
  
"Go away."  
  
Lex had taken the buggy to escape. She had taken off pretty far from camp. But Stevie had followed her.  
  
"No."  
  
Stevie sat down right in front of Lex, facing her.  
  
"Here, have a stimpack."  
  
Lex didn't reply, instead, sullenly looked at a spot right over Stevie's shoulder. Stevie sighed, and leaned  
  
forward, administering the medical drug.  
  
"So... what's up."  
  
"..."  
  
"So how was your last mission?"  
  
"..."  
  
"Okay, fine. I'll tell you about mine." Stevie started on her story. How she had been nervous, didn't know  
  
what she should do. How much stress it was to keep everyone alive. She'd done it before, Stevie rambled on, when  
  
she was in a squad. But she had never been the one everyone looked to when the going gets tough.  
  
"...then we had to blow up all six damned power nodes at once."  
  
Lex still didn't answer. Finally, frustrated, Stevie reached out and took hold of Lex's chin.  
  
"Look at me, damn you."  
  
Lex locked eyes with Stevie, and damn it all if Lex still didn't take her breath away.  
  
"I'm not going to say I'm sorry. I can't believe you kissed me with that lying mouth of yours that time."  
  
Stevie felt a twinge of familiar anger. "Dekker asked me if I had said my goodbyes to you yet, and you know how  
  
much of a fool I looked, just staring at that bastard blankly? You know how much I fucking missed you when I went on  
  
that mission?!"  
  
Tears were streaming down Stevie's face now, and she wiped at them angrily. Lex caught Stevie's hand in her  
  
own, her stony expression had softened.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Let go of me." Stevie tried to tug her hand away, but Lex's grip was like iron. She pulled the Knight  
  
Commander into her arms, and held her tightly. Stevie tried to push away, angry at her weakness, her tears.   
  
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Lex just tightened her grip, cradled the younger girl, and continued whispering  
  
her mantra until Stevie lay still in her arms.  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."  
  
The sun was hotter than hell.  
  
Lex loosened her grip now, allowing Stevie get a more comfortable position in the other woman's arms.  
  
"I don't know how you do it." Lex broke the silence.  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"Do this to me. Make me act like an idiot. Make me lose my temper." Lex smiled down at Stevie. "Wrap me  
  
around your little finger."  
  
"Its the tears." Stevie said jokingly. "I can turn them on and off."  
  
"Maybe." Lex took a deep breath, felt so nervous. "Maybe I like you a bit too much."  
  
The silence was almost deafening.  
  
"Lex?"  
  
Stevie looked up at her curiously, hopefully. Then, as if she had just made a decision, she propped herself  
  
up with one arm, and used the other to drag Lex's head down to meet hers, crushing their lips together.  
  
Tender, softly... now harder... possessive.  
  
"Lexxx..." Stevie drew out that name in a groan. She was in heaven. Her ex-squad leader was nibbling on her  
  
neck.  
  
The general replied with a low sound, almost a purr, and that drove Stevie wild.  
  
Out on the sand, under the blazing sun, they kissed each other hungrily, as if they could never get enough  
  
of just a taste. The heat was unbearable, and they looked around for shade.  
  
There. A jutting of rocks with green crystals embedded in them. A stunted tree grew there, offering little  
  
shade. But the two made their own shade, as clothes were torn off in a hurry, hung up on the tree.  
  
And they made love among the rocks, with the cracked earth under their bodies, and the sun beating down on  
  
the shelter from above.  
  
~~~  
  
"It was the fight, wasn't it?" Stevie loved the feeling of nothing between the two of them, and looked at  
  
Lex, looking at her.  
  
"Hm?" She received a kiss that urged the corners of her mouth up in a smile.  
  
"The sexual tension, you could just FEEL it in the air."  
  
Lex rolled her eyes, but blushed. She had been feeling something. That was why she got scared and bolted  
  
after the fight. "I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"Isn't it crazy how fighting just makes you hungry and horny?"  
  
Lex raised an eyebrow. "I don't know where that came from, and you're a frickin' sex fiend, you know that?"  
  
"Damn right." Stevie looked at Lex seriously. "Only for you, though."  
  
"So... we got the horny thing taken care of." They snuggled closer together. "You hungry?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Hmmm... I didn't bring anything in the buggy. You wanna head back to camp?"  
  
"Nope. I got what I want right here."  
  
"You brought food?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Oh? ...oh... OH! Oh... uh...o-oh god..."  
  
"That's what I like to hear."  
  
"I totally... walked into.. that one, didn't... I?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
They had come out to that deserted piece of wasteland, say early afternoon. The sun had almost set before  
  
the two got into their respective vehicles and headed back to camp. 


	4. Immaculate Conception!

Tactics: Immaculate Conception?!  
  
Fallout Tactics fanfiction  
  
immo - immohamena.org  
  
rating:PG-13  
  
I'm sorry, k? I haven't written in a while... Was in Hong Kong. Before that, there were family difficulties... Sorta  
  
stiffled my creativity, ya know? But tons of excuses ;) Hope all y'all out there 'ppreciate this new installment.  
  
Hopefully, I'll be on a roll and continue Beneath the Opera House or Killings... or maybe more Tactics.  
  
I LOVE FALLOUT!  
  
John was a tad bit worried. He had tested her for radiation poisoning, food poisoning, almost everything he  
  
could think of. But she was still sick. In the early morning, she was emptying whatever she had ingested the night  
  
before, behind a large rock.  
  
"Augh... kill me..." The moan was almost comical, if it wasn't for the fact that the woman's sickness really  
  
worried the rest of the team. They were concerned for their fearless leader, and even though Ice didn't want to  
  
admit it, the loner of the group was worried also. Ice alternated from staying away for days at a time to becoming  
  
another Florence Nightingale, constantly stuck to Lex like a burr.  
  
"We'll go back to camp." John frowned. There was just one thing that John hadn't tested her on... but no.  
  
She couldn't be.  
  
Mother was looking at Lex with an odd, confused look on her face. When John had questioned her about it, the  
  
deathclaw gave him the best bewildered look a deathclaw could muster, and shifted her wide shoulders in a shrug.  
  
"I know! But... do not understand! Not possible!"  
  
It was night-time, and Lex was sitting by the fire, a blanket draped over her shoulders. It was a warm  
  
night, and she was sweating. But Ice wouldn't hear any of it, and sat there, making sure Lex didn't try to throw off  
  
the blanket.  
  
"Honestly, I'm feeling fine!" Lex tried again.  
  
Ice just glared at her. "No."  
  
"Goddamn you to hell."  
  
"You know this is for your own good."  
  
"I'm great, I'm telling you!" Lex protested. The radio that sat beside the general crackled, and Stevie's  
  
voice came through.  
  
"Lex?"  
  
" 'Scuse me for a sec." Lex picked up the radio. "Right here, Stevie, over."  
  
Ice bit her lower lip, a dark frown on her lips. She stood up and left the ring of light cast by the fire,  
  
and strode out into the darkness. Lex didn't even notice.  
  
"How are you doing? Over."  
  
Lex grinned at the staticky voice. The two had started on their relationship when they were back at camp,  
  
and had, after much fighting, deliberated that it would be better if Stevie stayed out of Lex's squad and continued  
  
in her own squad. It was better for Stevie's career.  
  
"I'm doing fine," Lex lied. "Glad to hear your voice. When will you get into camp? Over."  
  
"I'll be there by tomorrow morning. I'm making my team drive through the night. Over."  
  
Lex could hear a collective groan in the background. She grinned. "Slavedriver. Over."  
  
"You know it." Then quietly, "I miss you. Over."  
  
"I'll see you soon." Lex promised. "We'll talk then. Let your team take a five, you're going to work them to  
  
death, over."  
  
"Gotcha, Lexy. I'll see you tomorrow. Over."  
  
"I'll probably swing in at round twelve hundred, over."  
  
"Love you. Over."  
  
No matter how many times Stevie said it, Lex got a tiny shiver down her back. Almost in a whisper, she said  
  
what Stevie needed to hear. "Love you too. Over."  
  
There was radio silence now. Lex felt that inexplicable urge to pick up the radio and page Stevie again. But  
  
she resisted.  
  
That didn't stop Stevie. A series of long and short beeps shook Lex out of her reverie. The same combination  
  
of long and short beeps was repeated over and over again, and Lex listened, feeling that warm glow that only someone  
  
in love feels.  
  
Over and over, for a few moments, the night was filled with 'I love you's in morse code.  
  
"Hey," Stevie greeted her ex-squad. She was flanked by her own squad. Compared to Mother, the deathclaw  
  
Stevie had as a teammate was a small fry, but still big in relation to the humans. Mother and the other deathclaw  
  
grunted together companionably. They had been part of the same brood. Different batch of eggs, but same brood.  
  
Ice regarded Stevie coolly. "Yes?"  
  
Stevie felt slightly stung by the cold way Ice greeted her.  
  
"Ice." Stevie looked around cautiously. There was only Mother, Cookie and Ice hanging around the cafeteria.  
  
"Where's Lex?"  
  
"General Lexandria?" Ice shrugged her shoulders. "That's on a purely need to know basis, Knight Commander."  
  
Stevie could feel her ire raise. "Well, I need to know. Just give me a simple answer."  
  
"Ice," Cookie lumbered up, a warning tone in her voice. Ice gave Stevie a defiant look, then stalked off.  
  
"What was up her ass?" Stevie muttered.  
  
"She's... been upset." Cookie said carefully. "Lex has been sick for quite a while. Soon as she checked in  
  
with Dekker, John hauled her ass off to the infirmary."  
  
"What's wrong with her?" Stevie was alarmed. "What happened?!"  
  
"Morning sickness." Mother paused in her conversation with the other deathclaw to say. "Lex carrying egg."  
  
It took a few minutes for this information to sink in. Then, in a tone of voice that made everyone in the  
  
cafeteria stare at her, she shouted out a loud, "WHAT?!"  
  
Then Stevie was out like a flash, running towards the infirmary.  
  
"You shouldn't have told her that." Cookie tsked.  
  
"Its only right." Mother shrugged. "Stevie and Lex are mates."  
  
"They aren't." Cookie corrected.  
  
"Are too." Mother growled. "Last time in camp, they do it. I smell it. I know."  
  
Cookie was a bit hesitant to challenge that. Mother was rarely wrong when her nose came into play. And it  
  
would make sense, cuz that's when Lex and Stevie started acting civil to each other again...  
  
"Why wouldn't she tell us?" Cookie demanded.  
  
"Don't ask, don't tell." Mother repeated the motto on relationships. Not just homosexual ones, like in the  
  
past. But on ALL relationships within the Brotherhood. Romantic relationships were frowned upon in the camp.  
  
"You stupid?" Mother raised an eyebrow. "You not hear, not see?"  
  
"Well..." Cookie had been too preoccupied with Lex's sudden sickness to concentrate on Lex's romantic life.  
  
Cookie wandered off to ponder this, while Mother resumed her conversation with the other deathclaw.  
  
-Humans. Dumb as a brick.- Mother grunted.  
  
-They just refuse to see the obvious.-  
  
"Well, seems that the tests came back positive." The doctor raised an eyebrow at Lex, who was looking  
  
decidedly ill. It wasn't because of the morning sickness, though. "Congratulations general, you're pregnant."  
  
"That's... just not possible..." Lex opened and closed her mouth. Than shut it completely, turning a nice  
  
shade of puke-green. "I... I can't be pregnant."  
  
"That's what happens when you have unprotected sex," John wagged a finger at Lex.  
  
"But... I... I can't be pregnant." Lex stammered. "I haven't had sex with a man for... more than a  
  
year..."  
  
"That's impossible." The infirmary doctor scoffed. "What are you trying to say? This is an Immaculate  
  
Conception?"  
  
"There's... I can't be pregnant." Lex hissed.  
  
"But you're sexually active."  
  
"Yes, but--"  
  
The door to the infirmary swished open, and Stevie stormed through, furious. She walked right up to Lex, and  
  
folded her arms, the look on her face made Lex almost quiver in fear.  
  
"So. Whose baby is it?"  
  
"I've been trying to find the right time to tell you guys." Lex looked at John apologetically. "Um... Stevie  
  
and I are in a relationship." The general turned to the infirmary doctor. "This is the woman I've been screwing."  
  
Lex got a slap to the back of her head for that, while John looked on with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not  
  
surprised at all."  
  
"Well, I don't have the right package to make you pregnant." Stevie's lower lip was quivering. "So I want to  
  
know who the lucky father is."  
  
Lex held up her hands in defeat. "I swear to god I have not had sex with anyone in the past year besides  
  
you."  
  
"And I don't believe you." Stevie turned on her heels and strode out of the infirmary.  
  
"Baby, I--" The automatic doors sliding shut behind Stevie cut off what Lex was going to say. The flustered  
  
General looked to the doctors desperately. "How da hell did this happen to me?"  
  
"You know how these things happen, General Lexandria." The doctor picked up a clipboard. "As of right now,  
  
I'm going to recommend that you be taken off active duty. Your child is doing quite well, but you need to take care  
  
of yourself better."  
  
The Future of the Wasteland, or simply called, The Child Act, stated that the mother bearing the child was  
  
to be taken off active duty the instance that its found that she is carrying a life in her womb. The Brotherhood was  
  
made to protect the future, the child, from the howling post-nuclear wasteland and all the dangers that could harm  
  
this new life. The world was in serious need of re-populating, and abortion was illegal.  
  
"I don't know where this came from!" Lex pointed to her stomach, near hysterical.  
  
"Nurse, I'm going to need 10ccs of valium for the general." The doctor ignored Lex completely.  
  
"John, John!" Lex tugged the medic to her. "You KNOW I couldn't be pregnant. Tell the doctor this is all  
  
just one big mistake! And I need to explain this to Stevie before she kicks my ass to the curb."  
  
"There's no mistake." John shook his head. "You're pregnant, Lex. Congratulations."  
  
"This isn't GOOD!" Lex shook John a little now. "This is NOT good! I don't need this right now and--why are  
  
you sticking a needle into me?!"  
  
"Don't worry John, we got this handled." The doctor smiled, while several orderlies came over to strap Lex  
  
down onto her cot. "Could you send this over to Dekker? He wanted to send her out to the wastes again, one last  
  
mission that's related to all the ones she's pulled recently. To Cheyenne Mountain. He'll have to find a replacement  
  
for her."  
  
"I can take the bloody mission!" Lex screamed from the cot. "Maybe I'll lose the fucking kid while I'm at  
  
it, fuck! Send in the turrets, the robots and the scurrybots! Fucking H. Christ!"  
  
The infirmary was quiet. Everyone was asleep, and the doctor on duty was at his desk checking through some  
  
papers. The nurse was keeping a close eye on a knight who was in critical condition. It was past visiting hours, but  
  
Ice was there, sitting beside Lex's bed.  
  
"So I heard you got knocked up." Ice said softly to the unconscious general. "Stevie is damned pissed at  
  
you, you know that? And so am I."  
  
"St-Stevie?" Lex jolted out of sleep when Ice touched her brow.  
  
The aloof woman rolled her eyes, but bit her tongue to stop from uttering a scathing comment.  
  
"Ice." The general recognized her teammate. "You doing alright?"  
  
"I should be asking you that." Ice joked. "So, getting pregnant, huh? Who's the father?"  
  
"No father!" Lex sighed, irritated. "I swear to god."  
  
"There's no god in this god-forsaken place." Ice poured a glass of water for Lex, helped her friend sit up  
  
and take a sip of the water.  
  
"Hey, Ice?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
Lex licked her lips. "Could you do me a favour?"  
  
Ice looked wary.  
  
"Tell Stevie there's only her. This kid... if its anyone's, its hers. I haven't been fooling around." Lex  
  
pleaded. "Get her to understand. You can be real persuasive."  
  
Ice bit her lip. She wanted to help her friend... wanted to so bad...  
  
"I'll... I'll do that for you, Lex. But you have to do something for me."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Ice wanted to know. She licked her lips, nervous.  
  
"Could you... would you kiss me?"  
  
Lex blinked, shocked at the request. The look on her face, and Ice already knew the answer before it came  
  
out. "I.. I can't, Ice. Ice, I like you a lot but--"  
  
"I know, I know." Ice cut her off. "In the hummer, I encouraged you to go out with Stevie. I'm not going to  
  
ask you... for a commitment. I just, I want to know."  
  
"Know what?"  
  
"I just want to pretend for one moment that you love me." Ice knew she sounded pathetic. But the only person  
  
she really warmed up to was Lex. And she had to know, wanted to know. Needed this one moment. That kiss to build a  
  
dream on.  
  
"Just this once." Lex blushed, making a decision. It would be an experience. She loved Stevie, but Ice had  
  
appeal too.  
  
What? Can't a girl fantasize?  
  
Lex leaned forward, cupping one side of Ice's face with a calloused hand.  
  
Stevie closed her eyes, squeezed them tight, felt lips brush shyly against her own, press firmly. Wind-  
  
weathered hands caressed her throat.  
  
That shortness of breath.  
  
Her heart skipping a beat.  
  
The euphoria.  
  
All so corny. But it was all so real, so what comfortably exciting.  
  
"Stop." Ice blinked away tears, moved away. "Stop, please."  
  
"Did I hurt you?" Lex caught Ice's hand. "Ice?"  
  
"No. I'm okay." Ice smiled warmly at her general. Her general. "I'll talk to Stevie."  
  
"Ice." Lex used her 'general-face'. "What's wrong."  
  
"Nothing!" Ice laughed, suddenly feeling that pull in her chest. This was what it felt to attach yourself to  
  
someone. And be so close yet so fucking far away from them. "I'm fine, Lex."  
  
"I don't believe that."  
  
Ice smiled at her friend. "You believe whatever the hell you want, general. You're paranoid."  
  
"I'm so not!" Lex argued hotly.  
  
"Whatever." Ice rolled her eyes. Then her mouth softened into a smile. "Thanks."  
  
With that, the sniper made her exit. 


	5. GIRLFIGHT!

Tactics: GIRLFIGHT!  
Fallout Tactics fanfiction  
immo  
rating:PG-13

Its been a while... and really, reviews do help. Don't think I've forgotten about you guys. Its your comments that get me off my lazy ass to give you another chapter. :D I realize my writing is really short, and not long and detailed... not novel length at all. It reads real quick. That's cuz I don't got the patience to write long and detailed. Maybe some day... some day...

Warning: This aitn beta'd, so there might be mistakes here and there and plot holes the size of Jupiter.

"Goddamn you, Stevie, open this door." Ice pounded on the metal door impatiently. Stevie was sulking. Ice was used to the other woman's temper, but right now, Ice really didn't have the patience to wait it out.  
General Lexandria had seriously unhinged her.  
"Go away, you frigid bitch! Why you care that I'm sulking is beyond me!" Stevie's voice was slightly muffled, but Ice could clearly hear what was said. As could the crowd that had gathered to watch this drama play out.  
"Fucking open this door!" Ice pounded on the door again while Lex's squad looked on nervously. In the team, Ice and Stevie had gotten along alright...most of the time. Of course, with Ice, she kept everyone guessing about what she was thinking and feeling. Easily the lone wolf of the group; the only person she really warmed up to was Lex. Stevie's eager friendliness and headstrong, often stubborn outlook put her at odds with the quiet Ice, who valued her privacy. So the two co-operated brilliantly well under Lex's command, but were prone to get on each other's nerves.  
"Open the door or I'll kick it down!"  
"You do there'll be a cap in your ass!"  
"Fuck you, Stevie! Stop being a bitch and open the door!"  
"NO!"  
Ice paused, pinching the bridge of her nose. Count to ten. Count to ten. Where was her cool disposition? Shattered by a kiss. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.  
"Maybe," John coughed. "Maybe you should let her alone"  
"I KISSED LEX! There! Are you going to come out now!" Ice yelled.  
There was stunned silence. Then the metal door slid open, and Stevie glowered at Ice.  
"What. Did. You. Say?"  
"I. Kissed. Lex." Ice hised through clenched teeth.  
General Dekker was just arriving at the outskirts of the crowd, and people parted for him. He frowned at the proceedings. This was exactly why relationships were discouraged in the Brotherhood between squadmembers. "Ladies"  
"BITCH!" Stevie launched herself at Ice, all her frustration and anger directed onto a convenient person.  
"BRING IT!" The two were soon scuffling on the ground, tearing at each other's hair and clawing at each other. both were highly trained in martial arts and one-on-one fighting. But the two were unbelievably enraged, and so had instinctively reverted to the one style of fighting that all women were masters of: THE CATFIGHT.  
"LADIES!" General Dekker hollered, to no avail. "You two, seperate them!"  
"I aint gettin' in there!" The initiate held up his hands. "I like my eyes in their sockets, thankyee very much!"  
"Cookie! Mother!" Dekker looked at the two. "Seperate them!"  
"Its better to just let this run its course," Cookie shrugged, as people started chanting out 'fight! fight! fight!'. "You're a man. You wouldn't understand."  
Mother scratched her ear. "Dangerous. Life-threatening. No. Only Lex make me do, tell what to do. Not listen you."  
"Do I have to do everythingAUGH! She scratched me!" Dekker hopped back.  
"GIRLS!" John shouted loudly. The place went silent, the usually docile man's shout caught even the two fighting women's attention. "That's enough out of BOTH of you! Get up off the floor, we are going to go talk this through like grown-ups!"  
Their uniforms torn in some places, and their faces scratched and bloodied, John hauled them both off the ground by the scruff of their uniforms. "General Dekker? A conference room, if you please, to review and give out disciplinary action for a squadmate and former squadmate."

"What the hell were you two thinking?" Dekker shouted at the two. "Knight Commander Stevie, you JUST got your badge not that long ago. I could EASILY take it away again."  
John looked on in solemn disapproval while Mother looked bored by the proceedings and Cookie looked sympathetic.  
"Look at me, Knight Commander: DO YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR BADGE!" Dekker was shouting in Stevie's face.  
"Yessir." Stevie muttered.  
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"  
"YESSIR!"  
"And you, Senior Knight Ice. Your behaviour is unacceptable."  
"Yessir." Ice looked straight ahead.  
Dekker was significantly calmer in his dealings with Ice. While Stevie was stubborn, Ice fell into line easily. In fact, this has been the first disciplinary action he had ever taken against the woman. She had an examplary record. Dekker had seen her come in as an initiate, and had seen her grow. He shook his head. Lexandria was a problem. It seemed that the most brilliant, the most talented, and the ones with the most potential gravitated towards the redheaded general. And sad to say, though Lex was a terrific leader, she was always in the thick of things.  
"Knight Commander Stevie, you have latrine duties."  
Stevie opened her mouth, about to protest, but a glare from the general shut her up quickly.  
"Yessir."  
"Senior Knight Ice." Dekker regarded the woman. "You will be going on the Cheyenne Mountain mission within a week. Max is going there with a squad, and you are to be part of it."  
Ice visibly winced. Max was another Senior Knight. He was known for beserking through his missions. And also known for his unshakeable love for Ice. Ice, of course, had turned him down each and every time. He thought it was a game. She found him extremely annoying.  
"Sir, I don't think that's the best idea."  
"Why not?" Dekker directed his gaze at her.  
"Max and I... we don't get along well. At all."  
"He specifically requested you, and in these circumstances, I don't think I'll deny him. He has a tough mission in front of him, and you would have gone with General Lexandria if it wasn't for her recent... development."  
Stevie had stiffened at the mention of Lex's name.  
"You'll be a valued asset. Your scouting skills are excellent, and you know the backstory behind Cheyenne. You're experienced." Dekker paused. "Or you could go mole-rat hunting. We've been having some problems with mole-rats."  
Ice looked thoughtful. "General Dekker, if you don't mind... I'd like to have some time to think."  
"I need to get your decision as soon as possible, Ice." Dekker harrumphed. "I will give you two days to make a decision. I'm not going to lie to you, but Cheyenne Mountain will be extremely dangerous. Mole-rats are significantly less dangerous."  
John, Cookie, Mother and Stevie, all four of them were paying close attention now. Since all the people in the room except for Dekker had been in the missions concerning the robots at varying stages, they all had a personal stake in Cheyenne Mountain.  
"The both of you are dismissed. Stevie, you start latrine duties tomorrow. Ice, give me your reply within two days. DISMISSED."  
The two Brotherhood of Steel-ers saluted General Dekker. General Dekker left the room, and Ice was about to follow when Stevie called out to her.  
"Hey." Stevie held out a hand, as if to stop Ice physically, but dropped it when Ice glared at her. "You can't go with Max."  
"Why not?"  
"Because we... we're a squad. We started out on this together." Stevie spread out her arms in a placating gesture. "We can finish this together!"  
"But the most important member of our squad is out." Ice said softly.  
Stevie's face twisted into a grimace. "We don't need her."  
"Need." Mother purred. "We do. Lex needed."  
"She didn't cheat on you, you know?" Ice smiled faintly. "She couldn't have. There was Cookie, Mother, John and I. And, no offence to you, John," Ice looked at John apologetically. "But Lex would not sleep with you even if she was uninhibited by alcohol."  
"The truth hurts." John nodded and chuckled a bit.  
"And the only one she's slept with since being back here from last mission.. is you."  
"I can't get her pregnant, though." Stevie hissed. She was hurt and confused. "I don't want to believe it, but what other possibilities are there?"  
That was true. Immaculate Conceptions were hard to come by, and there was only one woman ever in the history books who had ever pulled that off, and her Immaculate Conception was highly doubted. Lex was no Blessed Virgin, either.  
"We're doing a DNA test on Lex's child, on the general's request." John suddenly said. "I didn't want to tell you two... but the results should be in within the hour.  
Without another word, everybody headed out the door and towards the infirmary.

"I told you not to tell anyone." Lex alternated from cowering under Stevie's glare to complaining to John.  
"Sorry. Your girlfriend and your squad have a right to know." John shrugged.  
"Egg..." Mother purred, her tail waving and upsetting some medical equipment. Her maternal instinct was surfacing, and she watched Lex with fascination and awe. There were never any human young in the Brotherhood camps, and Mother was kept away from the shanty towns, villages, and struggling cities so she had never seen a human young.  
"General Lexandria, Ihm. Seems like you have a party going on." The nurse had a folder in her hand, within was a piece of paper that held information everyone was dying to know: Who was the baby's father?  
"Should I come back later?"  
"NO!" Everyone shouted.  
"Well... hmmm." She opened the folder. "I guess your squad wants to be present for this news? We cross-referenced the baby's DNA with everyone in the base... so..."  
"Get on with it!" Ice snapped, her patience at an all-time low.  
"Well..." The nurse looked up and around at the people. And smiled when her eyes fell on Stevie. "Knight Commander Stevie? I don't know how, but it was a perfect match. Congratulations. You're a... mother?"  
There was a few moments of silence. Then:  
"WHAT!"  
"T-t-t-that's not possible." John stuttered.  
"Told you." Mother had a satisfied grin on her face.  
"That is PHYSICALLY impossible." Cookie blinked, astounded.  
Ice shook herself out of her reverie. "There has to be some mistake."  
"Does nothing phase you, woman?" Cookie gaped at the nurse.  
The nurse shrugged. "We're in a post-apocalyptic world. We have giant superhumans like yourself, ma'am. And we have the ghouls. One of which, has a bonsai tree growing out of his head. There's one-headed brahmans being born. So excuse me if nothing phases me anymore."  
Everybody seemed to pause and consider what the nurse was saying, and accept it grudgingly as true.  
"You're sure?" Stevie asked tentatively.  
"We redid the tests. We had them ready actually yesterday." The nurse handed over the report. "We redid the tests over and over. You don't know how tired we were. General Dekker, of course, has been informed of this event."  
"What caused this?" John asked.  
The nurse tried to suppress her laughter, and ended up snorting. "Excuse me. Well... I'll leave General Dekker to give you his explanation for this after we confirm with him that the results haven't changed after lengthy testing."  
"Hey." Lex caught Stevie's hand. "Hey. We need to talk."  
"We need to leave." Cookie started shooing everyone out.  
"Ice." Lex called out to the Senior Knight's retreating form. "Thank you."  
"I did nothing, General Lexandria." Ice smiled sadly and looked from Stevie to Lex. "Congratulations, General."  
Cookie pulled the seperating partitions closed after the last person left.  
"So... I didn't cheat, did I?" Lex pulled Stevie down to sit next to her on the bed.  
Without a word, Stevie collapsed into Lex's arms, crying.  
"Shh... its alright, baby. I'm sorry I cause you so much trouble all the time..."  
The tears came, and all the anger and pent-up emotions flooded out of Stevie with the tears, until she was left with nothing but a warm, exciting feeling behind.  
"How do you think this happened?"  
"I don't know, Stevie."  
"How are you feeling?"  
Lex tilted Stevie's face up to meet hers, brushed away the tears at the corner of the Knight Commander's eyes and kissed her sweetly. "Much better now."  
Stevie blushed. Then her eyes narrowed and she looked up at Lex accusingly. "I heard you kissed Ice."  
"...Uh..."

note:Sorry if I disappoint you guys. I'm trying. :P


	6. Cheyenne

Tactics: Cheyenne  
Fallout Tactics fanfiction  
immo  
rating:I just keep getting more explicit. I should stop.

You guys rocked me with your reviews, so here's one for you. Its short, but I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

"So how did it happen?" Stevie held Lex's hand, as Dekker stood at the foot of the bed, looking through the results of Lex's pregnancy test. Lex was indeed pregnant. And Stevie, no doubt about it, was the father. Every test that they could think of doing had been done. Lex had started threatening the medical ward staff when Stevie came back, pale and drained of more blood than was healthy. The whole... situation with the pregnancy and everything had gotten the whole camp into an uproar, and was very quickly becoming a riot.  
"I..." Dekker took a deep breath and closed the portfolio. "...I really think that this is the second coming."  
Lex and Stevie looked at Dekker. And looked. And then, for good measure, they REAAALLY looked.  
"You've been standing out in the sun waaaay too long, general." Stevie drawled.  
Lex nodded. "For once, I agree with Stevie."  
"Soldier." Dekker gave Stevie a warning glare, before directing his attention back at Lex. "But really, think about it. There's no way you could be pregnant by Stevie--"  
"Hey!"  
"--its true!" Dekker continued on. "So what if... the Holy Spirit is MASQUERADING as Stevie's DNA in your womb?"  
"You." Lex enunciated slowly. "Are. On. Jet."  
"Apparently, not just him." Cookie joined the party that was going on around Lex's bed. "Hey. It seems a whole buncha wannabe wise men from the cities have come 'bearing gifts'."  
"Oh Lord." Lex groaned. "How did it leak out to the civilians?"  
"No idea." Cookie shrugged her shoulders and looked at Lex slyly. "But right now, I'm accepting everything that's coming our way. We got enough myrrh, frankincense and gold to last us until Doomsday. Which shouldn't be pretty far since this is the Second Coming."  
"Cookie!" Lex glared at the supermutant, who was laughing her ass off. "Its not the Second Coming!"  
"That's the only reasonable explanation." Dekker shrugged. "Because Stevie doesn't have a penis."  
"How do you know!" Stevie shot back furiously.  
"Stevie!" Lex stared at her lover.  
Stevie crossed her arms stubbornly. "Well, I don't have a penis, but I don't need him to tell me this baby isn't mine!"  
"Just because you have insecurity issues--"  
"Fuck you, Dekker--"  
"BOTH OF YOU!" Lex shouted, completely exhasperated with the general and her mate. "STOP! Jeezus H... Okay, Dekker, you have no right to presume that Stevie isn't the... father... mother... whatever, of my child. Stevie, you CANNOT talk to your superior like that. I will suspend you for insubordination if you push the limits to my patience."  
"WHAT!" Stevie was outraged while Dekker looked smug.  
Lex regarded the Knight Commander seriously. "I'm still your superior and so is Dekker. Calm down. This whole thing IS really peculiar, but you need to remember your place."  
Stevie clamped her lips shut, but she withdrew her hand from Lex's grip and started sulking.  
"John and the rest of the medical and research staff are running tests on Stevie and I, I'm pretty sure we'll find out a more substantial reason on my pregnancy." Lex tried to grab Stevie's hand back, but the woman pulled away, fixing her gaze on the heart monitor and sullenly ignoring the two generals.  
It had been a day after the reconciliation of Lex and Stevie. Now, the whole camp was in a buzz. How do two women have a baby without a man in the equation? Usually, if someone was brave enough to ask Stevie, depending on her mood, she would answer with a "None of your fucking business" or lash out physically. Since Stevie hadn't been in the best of moods for a while, usually it was the latter.  
"Probably something to do with all the radioativity still around," Stevie muttered.  
"Immaculate conception!" Dekker said with a sing-song voice.  
"Stop. Both of you." Lex sighed. At this rate, she was going to miscarry from all the stress these two heaped on her when they were together.  
"Egg now?" Mother poked her head through the folding partitions.  
"NO." Lex gritted through her teeth. The deathclaws weren't helping at all. Every few hours or so, a representative (usually Mother, but others have shown up) would come in to see if Lex had laid an egg. And Lex was getting tired of them not understanding that humans don't lay eggs. The deathclaws couldn't get past the whole 'ovaries and eggs' part of the human reproductive system discussion.  
"Soon?" Mother rumbled hopefully.  
"NO!"  
"Your heartrate's going up." Cookie pointed out.  
"Okay, that's it. All of you, OUT!" Lex pointed. "All of you! GO!"  
"Chill!" Mother chirped. A word she had learned from Cookie. "Chill!"  
"OUT!"  
"Baby, you shouldn't shout in your condition--"  
"OUT!"  
Everyone scrambled over themselves to escape Lex's rage.  
"GOD!" Lex covered herself with the blanket until she heard her heartrate monitor slow down to normal. This whole thing was incredibly strange. How in the hell did Stevie get her pregnant? And why did Lex end up pregnant and not Stevie?  
'Stevie pregnant...' Lex tried to imagine the young woman with a big belly. And shuddered at the thought. Not to say Stevie wouldn't make a good mother... well, Stevie really wouldn't make a good carrying mother. Lex was one of the most laid-back people in the camp. The only thing that got her all agitated was Stevie. So really, considering Lex's attributes, she would make the better mother--  
"What the hell am I thinking?" Lex muttered to herself. "Stupid Stevie--"  
"Lex?"  
"WHAT!" Her heartrate monitor did a jump. Stevie poked her head through the screen, grinning. Speak of the devil...  
"You really need to calm down, baby." Stevie walked over and sat down next to Lex on the bed. "The people are all gone now."  
"When I said EVERYBODY out, I meant, EVERYONE." Lex grumbled, but pulled Stevie into her arms.  
"Wait, wait..." Stevie got up and took off her leather armour before lying back down next to the general. "There. Now.. how are you feeling today?"  
"Feeling better with the anti-nausea medicine." Lex reported.  
Stevie nuzzled her face into the crook of Lex's neck. "That's good."  
They spent several minutes in silence, before Lex cleared her throat. "How are you holding up? I heard that you've been going around beating up people."  
"Bitches deserve it," Stevie said drowsily. "They don't get to talk about you like that."  
"Like what?"  
Stevie kissed Lex on the neck softly. "Disrespectfully. Only I get to do that."  
"Knight Commander, you have to watch that temper of yours."  
"Oh," Stevie propped herself up on one elbow, smirking down at Lex, her hand slipped deftly underneath the general's smock to caress the redhead's belly. "You don't get to tell me what to do. I remember now that you're on leave because of your pregnancy."  
"You're so insubordinate." Lex rolled her eyes, as Stevie's hand slipped further up.  
"You looooove me like this." Stevie growled, leaning down to kiss Lex tenderly.  
Lex closed her eyes, relishing the kiss, smiled against its onslaught. She loved Stevie. It was something that was incredibly new to her. They've been together, part of a team, it seemed like forever. But together like this, this was all new and it felt great. Maybe it would fade later on... but right now, Stevie was her everything.  
"Hey," Stevie suddenly parted from Lex, an evil glint in her eye. Which Lex definitely did not like. "So, now that you're suspended, I'm technically a higher rank than you, right?"  
Lex's eyes narrowed significantly. "Technically... but not really--"  
"Soldier, you've been a bad bad girl." Stevie growled, pinning Lex's wrists above her head. "You need punishment."  
Lex grinned, stifled her laughter. Stevie was too adorable.  
"Yes, Knight Commander. I've been a bad bad girl."  
"Hmm..." Stevie's free hand, the one that wasn't restraining Lex, drew lazy circles in the spot between Lex's collarbone. Then, slowly, Stevie's hand began to travel down. The Knight Commander's eyes never left Lex's face, as a superior smile pulled one side of her mouth up. "How should I--" Stevie quickly jerked her head away as Lex tried to arch up and capture Stevie's mouth with her own, "Uh-uh, Lex. You need to behave..."  
Lex's eyes widened as Stevie's travelling hand moved down one thigh. Then... slooooowly... excrutiatingly slowly up again.  
"Stevie, you... no..." Lex thrashed uselessly, breath catching in her throat.  
"Shhh..." Stevie grinned evilly. "You don't want people to hear you... right?"  
"Stevie... please..." Lex's protests were half-hearted. "You.. someone would hear..."  
"You didn't complain last night after light's out." Stevie raised an eyebrow. Then, without another word, Stevie lifted Lex's leg onto her shoulder, eyes gleaming with lust. Not listening at all to Lex's protests, she moved against her, a long heated movement that brooked no argument for a reply to this dance. Lex, being a patient in the medical ward was wearing nothing but one of those flimsy blue gowns that tied up in the back.  
And nothing else.  
She could not resist Stevie's slow pace against her and responded, another step in this passionate dance. Everytime they touched, it was as if a deep-throbbing fire inside their chest and in their loins flared up, built up.  
Lex looked up at her lover pleadingly. A wordless request.  
Stevie complied, leaned down, one hand cupping the side of Lex's face and kissed her as hard as she could, tried to pour the depths of the love she felt for this woman into the kiss. Felt Lex's arms wrap around her neck. Felt that love returned.  
And, oh. What ecstasy this was.

* * *

Stevie had left some time at night when Dekker had come looking for her for latrine duty. Lex was too highstrung to sleep, so she lay on her bed, looking up at the ceiling. So she was surprised when a small scratching sound at the partitioning screen caught her unaware. She should have heard the footsteps.  
Annoyed, she called out to the blurred shadow. "Go away!"  
"Okay," Ice's voice was muffled through the screen. "I'll go."  
"No," Lex threw away the blanket. "Ice. Glad to see you. Come in, come in. Sit down, everyone else is driving me crazy."  
"Hey, I'm just here for a short while." Ice pushed away the screen and entered, pulling the screen shut after her. She gave Lex a small smile.  
"What's up?" Lex grinned.  
Ice replied by capturing Lex's face in her hands and kissing the general. Caught her by surprise again. Felt her resistance breaking... a brief image of Stevie flashed through her mind...  
"No," Lex pushed Ice away. "Ice, no. I can't. That time was the first and last time. We can't do this. I can't do this."  
An uncomfortable silence fell on the two.  
"Your heartrate monitor--"  
Lex cleared her throat and blushed. "--shows I'm excited. You're incredibly attractive, Ice. But I can't."  
"Not even a goodbye kiss?"  
"Goodbye?" Lex looked up in alarm.  
"I'm going to Cheyenne."  
"Ice--"  
"Will you keep me back?" Lex felt captured by that intense look. Crystal blue eyes piercing into her. "Ask me to stay, Lex."  
"Ice..." Lex looked back at Ice, cursing her heartrate monitor which was beeping at a mile a minute. "Ice... what are you asking me?"  
"You know what I'm asking you," Ice hesitantly held out her hand, looking at Lex pleadingly. Ice never begged. But at this moment, this moment pride had no place. "I've never wanted ANYTHING, Lex. Never. Please. I'm... I'm begging you."  
"Ice." Lex looked at her friend, heartbroken. Saw the look of realization, dejection, depression and finally, the stoic expression Ice always kept up flash by in quick succession.  
"I'm sorry, General. I was out of line." Ice backed away. Lex made to catch her arm, but stopped when Ice raised an eyebrow. "Don't. Unless you mean it, Lexandria."  
"Ice..." Helplessly, the general floundered. Without another word, Ice leaned down and hugged Lex as hard as she could. Squeezed her eyes shut and tried to imprint her general's scent, feel and image permanently in her mind.  
"I love you, Lex."  
Those simple heartfelt words. And Ice was gone.

* * *

author's note: I spoil you guys so much :P Here's another chapter. Thank you so much for the kind reviews. 


	7. MIA

Tactics: M.I.A Fallout Tactics fanfiction immo rating: This one's alright. :D

I got a review not that long ago, and it prompted me to blow the dust of this series I've been writing and pull a fast one! :D Here ya go! Reviews ARE the key to getting me going :P

--

"Maybe... she's hormonal?" Cookie cringed at the look Stevie cast at her. "What?"

"I think she's upset over Ice leaving." Stevie lay down on her bunk and sighed. Lex had asked for some time alone, and the 'father' of the child had respected that need for space and left her lover to herself in the medical wing.

The sound of the automatic doors opening and John ducking into the bunker interrupted Stevie's thoughts. Once his eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness and found Stevie, John let out a humorous chuckle. "Hey, Joseph, gifts for the Virgin. Where do you want me to put it?"

"The name's Stevie and believe me, Lex is the furthest thing from a Virgin." Stevie snorted. "Perishables and food items on Cookie's bunk. Everything else on yours, John."

"Why are our beds your storage space?"

"You're getting a percentage of it?"

"Oh. Right."

Mother, meanwhile, was sniffing the perishables and food items pile curiously. Her head perked up when she heard talk of percentages, eyes gleaming. "Percentage? Stevie?"

"You too, Mother. I won't forget you." Stevie grinned. "Take whatever you want, k?"

With a trilling sound deep in her throat, Mother grabbed the loaf of paper-wrapped bread she had been examining before and tore into it with a ferocity that was almost scary to watch.

They were all suddenly blinded by the light as someone else burst into the bunker. There at the entrance was a frantic Lex.

"Stevie?"

"Baby, right here." Stevie jumped off her resting place and was at Lex's side in an instant. The pregnant woman smiled warmly, than suddenly frowned. "I saw your squad leave! I was walking and I saw your vehicle--"

"No, I'm not going with them." Stevie grinned. "Were you worried about me, babe?"

"Don't 'babe' me." scowled Lex.

As always, the two women gathered an audience. These two brought a much needed breath of fresh air to the barracks. The life of someone within the Brotherhood of Steel was dangerous, wrought with constant worry. More often than not, it was the life of the survival of the fittest. Sure, in the wastelands, very few people outside the Brotherhood had the firepower to stand up against even an initiate. The world was not kind. But even in the Brotherhood--some would say ESPECIALLY in the Brotherhood--one got to see the ugly side of life.

People starving and dying. Fighting for survival.

Stevie and Lex were a breath of fresh air because it was... strange to see something outside the wasteland norm of suffering, of hatred, of hard cold survival. So opposite from the blatant destruction, a lot of people were entranced by Stevie and Lex. Creation. It was infinitely so much harder to create than to detroy.

"Not going?" Lex continued frowning.

"Staying here. With you." Stevie smiled. She gathered Lex's hands in her own. "Dekker asked if I wanted to. He has a job for me here as a test subject. Get to the bottom of this whole pregnancy thing."

"Oh." Lex smiled, looking almost relieved, then quickly went back to frowning. "Testing? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Not as dangerous as what you're doing right now." Stevie replied, referring to the tests that Lex was being subjected to daily. Since this was the 'immaculate conception', the Brotherhood scientists wanted to get to the bottom of this. It was not plausible, not feasible for Stevie to impregnate Lex. All the 'wise men', the scientists from the different camps, after hearing about the 'miracle', requested permission to enter the camp. It drove Lex nuts that they all came bearing gifts. Some joker had sent out a bulletin to the nearby camps, some bullshit about it being respectful for visitors to bring some sort of offering.

"Well, you love missions! You hate just sitting around."

"Yeah..." Stevie drawled. She sat back onto the bottom bunk and pulled Lex onto her lap. People sat around, chatting amongst themselves and helping themselves to the pile of foodstuffs Stevie had collected on Cookie's bed. "You know how I am, Lex. You know, I love going out and doing stuff. But I like being around you even more."

"That was so lame!" Some new initiate moaned. The moaner got a smack from Cookie and that drew out a few chuckles all around.  
"Goddamn," Stevie looked around the crowded bunker and rolled her eyes in exasperation at her audience. "Can't you guys make yourself scarce? Can't you see me and the lady here are talking?"

"Hey, public space! YOU get a room!" There was another round of laughter.

The two lovestruck women rolled their eyes simutaneously. Stevie's droll look turned mischievous as she pulled Lex closer. "Who needs a room?"

"Stevie--!" The next words Lex was going to say was cut off efficiently either by Stevie's mouth or by the rising cheers of the watching crowd. It seemed that Stevie had grown to love PDAs.

"Make more eggs?" Mother asked hopefully, looking up from an iguana-on-a-stick.

--

"Hey babe, what's bugging you?" Stevie and Lex sat on top of a hummer, looking up at the stars. Lex's head rested on Stevie's stomache.

"You know." Lex sighed.

"You couldn't have stopped her."

"I could have."

"Would you actually try to keep her here?" There was a note of jealousy in Stevie's voice.

Lex sighed again. What could she do?

"I... couldn't have lied to her. But I'm just so worried. We know how dangerous it is. Me, you and the squad have been through it all. We know the inside story. How's she gonna survive out there, especially with Max as squad leader." Lex lamented. "Who's gonna give her the support she needs? Every day, we're getting more reports on--"

"First, you're off on maternity leave, so you have to stop eavesdropping on reports." Stevie shushed her girlfriend. "Second, even though we all think soooo HIGHLY of Max, we have to give him some credit. He's an asshole, but he knows what he's doing."

Lex frowned, but kept her lips tightly sealed until Stevie sat up and leaned down to give the woman a kiss.

"I'm just worried, is all." Lex sighed again. "She's... you know. She's Ice. She's family."

"I know. And we know Ice." Stevie smiled reassuringly at Lex. "She's capable. She's damned good with her guns and she can get out of a pinch in a hurry. I mean, second to me, she's our best scout."

"Second to you? Sorry hun, but Ice is our best scout." Lex barked out a laugh at the indignant look on Stevie's face. "Please, you can't roll out of bed without everyone else knowing!"

"Hey, so what if I'm not an early riser?" Stevie quipped back defensively. She smirked slyly as she continued with her comeback, "And anyways, where do YOU get off telling me that I'M not quiet, Ms. Bottom-Screamer?"

Lex cringed. "I hate that you call me that."

"I'll stop calling you that when you stop being a pillow-biter." Stevie smirked.

"God, I hate you." Lex pronounced, reaching up to pull Stevie down for a kiss. "But I just can't seem to get enough of you."

Stevie grinned down at Lex, her hair making a curtain around their faces so all they saw was each other.

"Do you know how happy you make me?" Stevie asked softly.

"How happy?" Lex raised an eyebrow.

"So fucking happy."

Lex felt herself melt even though the rational part of her mind was telling her that from an outsider's point of view, the conversation the two of them were having was probably extremely idiotic. "I love you, despite the fact that you're a bitch sometimes."

Stevie's eye twitched a bit, but she bared her teeth in a grin at Lex. "I love you even though your ass is getting fatter and fatter."

Lex's eyes narrowed. "I hate you."

"Lex!" John was driving towards them in a buggy, windows rolled down, head sticking out and screaming his squad leader's name. "Lex!"

"Guys?" Lex sat up and both Stevie and Lex immediately picked up the weapons they had on them. They might be intoxicated on love, but it was still a dangerous world out there and one could never be too careful. "What's up?"

"Lex!" The buggy had screeched to a halt just behind the hummer, almost hitting it, Stevie pointed out angrily.

"She's fucking pregnant! Watch the fuck out!" Stevie snapped, holding on to Lex protectively.

"Ice! Ice!" Mother's rasping repition of the name of the person Stevie and Lex had been discussing froze the General on the spot.

"What?" Lex felt fear freeze her insides. She slid off the hummer, almost losing her balance in the process, but managed not to fall and straightened up. "What? Soldier, REPORT!"

"Her squad... Ice..." Tears had trailed their way down Cookie's face and she barely got the words out between the sobs. Cookie was... well, one tough cookie. This was bad if Cookie was crying.  
"Cookie, girl, what?" Stevie looked beside herself with worry. Ice and her might've fought a lot, but they had been through everything together. Ice was family. "Don't do this to us, tell us."

"Her squad met with heavy fire." John said soberly. "The Brotherhood had to knock out the front door of the enemy's base with a nuke. Dagger Squad went in with them, but after a while... we--they lost contact with Max's squad."

Lost contact. Those two words were synonymous with 'dead'. Even though sometimes, on a rare occasion, contact was re-established and everyone was alright, usually, losing contact with someone meant trouble. Meant death.

"We've been trying to get a hold of them for an hour or so." Cookie managed to blubber out. "But... Dagger Squad... they found Max."

"What about Ice?!" Lex demanded, face pale and drawn. "Was Ice with Max?!"

"No, he wasn't--"

"Why the fuck isn't the leader of the squad with his squadmates?!" Lex was close to hysterical now. "What the fuck kinda leader is he?!"

"Max is dead, Lex."

That deflated the General.

"Dagger Squad tried to investigate further, but even THEY had to pull back, there were just way too many bots. Two of their own are heavily injured. They're waiting for reinforcements..." John tried to continue, but he couldn't anymore.

Stevie and Lex floundered, not knowing what to say, and finally Stevie spoke up.

"What about now?"

"Dekker has our channel." John held up a radio grimly. "He'll contact us if there are any updates. After that last update from Dagger Squad, we all piled into the buggy and went to find you. The Brotherhood is on red alert. Robot activity is up everywhere and a few of our guys out there... well, we've gotten confirmed sightings from them. And then we lost contact with them. We... need to get you two back to base."

There was silence. And nobody moved for what seemed like a really long time. All of them stunned. Feeling incredibly numb. Mother was the first to break out of the stupor. She took an unsteady step forward, towards Lex. Then another. She kept moving forward until she had her head pressed against Lex's chest. Then she let out a huge shuddering sigh. Then another.

It took Lex a while to realize Mother was crying. Which was exactly what Lex felt like doing at the moment. The General hugged Mother close and let the tears fall, feeling the rest of her squad closing in, arms encircling her and Mother in a group hug.

"Ice," Mother cried in her deathclaw way, her voice a low strain, even harsher than it normally was. "Ice, come baaaack."

"She'll be okay. God, she'll be okay." Stevie whispered fervently. Lex didn't know if her lover was trying to reassure everybody, or if she was praying.

The keening wail from the deathclaw made Cookie cry even harder and she nearly crushed everybody with her hugs. But nobody cared. One of their own was either in mortal danger, dying or dead. Nothig else at that moment mattered as they held each other and tried not to think of the worst.

--

endnote: Now ain't that funtimes? For all of you who've played the game, you know what's going on. Comments, complaints, suggestions are welcome :D


End file.
